Prenatal and postpartum care: best practices and professional guidelines for CHIP providers
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Texas Children’s Health Plan encourages providers to follow best practices and professional guidelines. To assist in this, refer to the following reminders about covered benefits under Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and CHIP-Perinatal (CHIP-P):
Prenatal Care
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) all concur that immunization against Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Acellular Pertussis (Tdap) protects the perinate from morbidity and mortality attributable to pertussis infection1. Based on this guidance, the Tdap vaccine is a covered benefit for all CHIP-P members as part of their routine prenatal care.
Postpartum Care
Postpartum care is vital for the health and safety of mothers and their newborns. CHIP-P covers two postpartum visits. It is recommended that at least one of these visits occur on or between 21 and 56 days after delivery.
CHIP covers postpartum depression screening at infant well checks before the infant’s first birthday. A single reimbursement covers all postpartum depression screenings provided and is not dependent on the mother’s eligibility or coverage2.
In accordance with state law, CHIP does not cover contraceptive services, including sterilization and Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) 3.
1 https://hhs.texas.gov/about-hhs/communications-events/news/2017/12/reminder-chip-p-coverage-tdap-vaccine2 https://hhs.texas.gov/sites/default/files/documents/doing-business-with-hhs/providers/health/women/tx-clinicians-ppd-toolkit.pdf3 https://hhs.texas.gov/sites/default/files/documents/doing-business-with-hhs/providers/health/women/texas-larc-toolkit.pdf[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]